Of the three return date options, a Sunday return is the least likely because the Suns play again a night later after a short flight.

"You don’t know how they’ll come back," Hornacek said. "We might bring Eric in off the bench a little bit. We hope he’s there at the end of game. If you throw him right into the starting lineup, it might screw you up for a few games."

With Plumlee and Bledsoe returning any game now, the Suns will continue to fight their toughest stretch of schedule with upcoming games against Western foes Oklahoma City (Thursday), at Golden State (Sunday) and then at the Los Angeles Clippers (Monday) on a back-to-back.

Goran Dragic also now has a left side strain. Sounds like a bruised rib to me.